Heating-furnace



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(No Model.) 7 2 Sheets Sheet 2. S. PORTER. HEATING FURNAGE.

Patented Mar. 3, 1896.

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SAMUEL FORTER, OF BELLEVUE, PENNSYLVANIA.

HEATING-FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 555,856, dated March 3, 1896.

Application filed May 6, 1895. Serial No. 548,245. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL FORTER, of Bellevue, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Heating-Furnaces, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyin g drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved heating-furnace, showing the same partly in longitudinal section. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line II II of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an end elevation. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line IV IV of Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is a detail of the triggers.

In the drawings, 2 represents the heating chamber of the furnace, which, if desired, may be a regenerative furnace, having at the ends flues 3 3 for the inlet of the fuel and air and the outlet of the products of combustion and connected with the usual regeneratorchambers.

The bottom of the furnace comprises a number of transverse movable sections 4 4, which are built within metal shells or frames 5, supported from below by rollers '7 7, set upon tracks or ways 6. The surfaces of the sections 4 maybe grooved, as at 4, to collect the slag from the metal ingots, and between the sections 4 4 are fixed walls 5 constituting parts of the furnace-bottom. The rollers of each movable section (I show three in each series) are connected together by rods or links 8, but the rollers are preferablynot journaled otherwise, the consequence being that if the sections are moved the rollers will travel at half the rate of the sections and will reduce the friction of motion.

To move the hearth-sections I may employ motors, which consist preferably of hydraulic cylinders 9, the rams or pistons of which are joined to the hearth-sections by verticallyslotted connections 10; but, if desired, instead of the hydraulic motors manual labor or motors of other types may be utilized formoving the sections out and in. By projection of these rams the sections can be moved transversely of the furnace to a position outside the furnace, as shown by dotted lines, or can be retracted into position in the furnacehearth, as shown in full lines. To render the sections easily movable and also to close the joints in the hearth I leave some vertical clearance-space Z1 between laterally-projecting portions of each hearth-section frame and the under side of the furnace-bottom, and at the positions occupied by the rollers when the sections are pushed back to their proper places in the hearth I set inclines 11, so that when the rollers reach such position they shall ride upon these inclines and shall elevate the hearth-sections somewhat, pressing them upwardly against the furnace-bottom. The slotted connections 10 permit such vertical motion.

In using the furnace the ingots 12 or other metal pieces to be heated are placed upon the sections 4 4 when the latter are outside the furnace, and the sections are then retracted into the furnace, there being a side-door opening 13 in the furnace opposite to each section to permit the passage of the metal piece. The doors 14 of the door-openings being then closed, the operation of heating the metal is carried on in the usual manner, and when it is desired to withdraw any heated ingot the section on which it is supported is pushed out of the furnace, as shown by dotted lines, leaving the heated metal exposed and in position where it can be seized and lifted readily by the tongs of a crane.

I may provide for the automatic opening of the doors 14 when the hearth-sections are moved outwardly and their automatic closing when the sections are pushed back by furnishing each door with a lifting-chain 15' running over pulleys 16 and connected to a bellcrank lever, one arm, 17, of which is in the path of a pin 18 on the piston of the hydraulic cylinder. Said lever has also an arm 19, adapted to engage and be supported by the end of a trigger-lever 20. The trigger-lever is pivoted on an axis 21, and on the same axis is pivoted a lever 22, having a laterally-pro jecting lip 23, which is adapted to engage the trigger-lever and is also in the path of motion of the pin 18. When the piston-rod is projected for the purpose of pushing the hearth-section out of the furnace, the pin 18, during the first part of the stroke, moves the lever-arm 17 and thereby lifts the door. At

the moment when the pin 18 passes the arm 17 the arm 19 engages and is supported by the trigger-lever 20, so that the door is upheld in open position. As the pin passes on, it engages and swings the lever 22, which moves radially without moving the trigger-lever. On the back stroke of the piston the pin engages the lever 22, moves it in a reverse direction, so as to cause it to trip the triggerlever 20, and then the pin, having passed in front of the lever-arm 17, moves on, the lever arm following it as it is drawn forward by the furnace-door, which, being freed, descends by gravity.

The advantages of my invention will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. By dividing the furnace hearth into removable transverse sections any of the sections may be drawn out, so as to remove from the furnace the metal piece carried thereby without removing the others, and the facility for independent and efficient heating thus afforded is of importance.

My improvement renders unnecessary the use of all special charging and discharging apparatus, such as have been employed generally heretofore for introducing metal into the furnace and withdrawing it therefrom, and by reason of the transverse direction of motion of the sections regenerators may be used at the ends of the furnace, as shown in the drawings.

1. A furnace having a heating-chamber provided with a hearth composed of separate transverse sections removable laterally from the furnace and an intermediate fixed wall portion between the movable sections and substantially on the same level therewith, the whole forming a single continuous hearth; substantially as described.

- 2. A furnace havingahearth composed of removable transverse sections supported upon rollers, an intermediate fixed wall, and inclines which the rollers engage and arranged to lift the movable sections to the same level as the fixed wall; substantially as described.

A heating-furnace having a horizontallymovable hearth-section, means for moving the same, a door opposite to the position of the metal on said section, and a connection extending from the door to the moving mechanism of the hearth-section, to which latter it is loosely connected whereby it is moved during the first part of the motion thereof; 1

opened, and means for tripping the trigger during the return motion of the hearth-section; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

SAMUEL FORTER.

lVitnesses THOMAS W. BAKEWELL, F. E. GAITHER. 

